Michigan football defense won’t alter aggressive style despite errors

Orion Sang Detroit Free Press Published 10:30 p.m. UTC Sep 4, 2018 Chase Winovich said he was confused Saturday night after Michigan’s 24-17 loss at Notre Dame. The senior defensive end wasn’t sure how the the Wolverines lost, and said he didn’t feel as if the Fighting Irish dominated. Monday afternoon, two of Winovich’s teammates offered more clarity. Junior defensive end Rashan Gary and junior ‘viper’ linebacker Khaleke Hudson agreed Michigan’s struggles on defense were “self-inflicted wounds.” “Talking about the first half, like I said, I think we hurt ourselves more than they hurt us,” Gary said. “That’s just with the penalties. And as you can see, second half, once we got settled in and started rolling, it was the Michigan football that we needed. But it was too late by that time.” U-M stock watch: Chase Winovich a bright spot, coaches a mess U-M film study: Conservative offense has long way to go Analysis: What we learned from Notre Dame, what to watch vs. WMU The Wolverines gave up touchdowns on three of Notre Dame’s first four drives, digging the team into an early hole. Gary said the defense wasn’t caught off-guard by Notre Dame. He blamed the early struggles on penalties and “not playing the way Michigan plays.” “It was nothing different, it was just more of what we did to ourselves,” Gary said. Michigan was called for seven penalties for 52 yards. There was a targeting ejection. An illegal facemask. A defensive holding. And on the Fighting Irish’s third touchdown… [Read full story]